Should you use your MBP more like a portable device?

[TechRunner]

Had the same issue with my 2015 MBA. Had less than 100 cycles on it when battery replacement warning hit, but I kept it in clamshell mode 99% of the time, and it was five years old by that point, so I wrote the degradation off as a combination of age and rarely using it away from my desk.

 

[212rikanmofo]

Are you saying that with the early 2015 12" macbooks, there was no such thing with smart battery management built into the OS? When did they add this feature?

 

[Christopher Kim]

Are you saying that with the early 2015 12" macbooks, there was no such thing with smart battery management built into the OS? When did they add this feature?

Correct - they added this in macOS Cataline 10.15.5, which was in May 2020.

Apple Releases macOS Catalina 10.15.5 With Battery Health Management Features, Fix for Finder Freezing

Apple today released macOS Catalina 10.15.5, the fifth update to the macOS Catalina operating system that was released in October 2019. macOS...

www.macrumors.com

 

[Wando64]

Correct - they added this in macOS Cataline 10.15.5, which was in May 2020.

...and it doesn't work in older Mac even if updated to the latest OS

 

[Christopher Kim]

Yah, I think it only works for Macs that have a Thunderbolt 3 port, so all the Macbook Pros from 2016 onwards, as well as (I think) the 2015 12" Macbook that the OP was referencing.

 

[smirking]

Correct - they added this in macOS Cataline 10.15.5, which was in May 2020.

I think we should qualify this with that software management of battery charging appeared then. The hardware has had built in overcharging protection for quite some time otherwise there'd be a lot more swollen batteries and battery fires.

Of course that protection isn't there to prolong the life of the battery. It's to prevent fires.

 

[vadim-v]

My MackBook Pro 15 2017 was 99% time plugged to a wall charger. The battery swelled after 2 years.